We hear how a person has a great smile, how their smile just lights up a room. So when we meet an alien, and want to put them at ease, do we smile?
What is a smile? It's bearing the teeth. If you think about it, it can be a hostile action. A smile is a bit like a dog growling and baring its fangs to threaten (without the growling and drool). Ah, but the eyes tell the story. As well as the rest of the face. Is the face scrunched up? Are the eyes glaring? The nostrils flaring? But there are cold smiles as well - that sickly sweet insincere smile, or, worst, the calm, eerie smile that can send shivers down your spine. Humans of all cultures can identify, on average, what is a happy face, a disgusted face, a mad face, and so on. Our ability to read faces crosses cultural and racial boundaries. But we are talking humans. What about non-humans?
Will aliens have the same range of emotions, or with the same intensity? Will they communicate emotion more with voice tonal differences, or with light, rather than by physical appearance? What if their faces have fewer muscles than ours, limiting their ability to communicate via facial changes? For them, a happy face could be one that is frowning. And a smile can be threatening.
Even simple gestures can be misread. Even here on Earth: the Japanese hand gesture for "come here" looks too much like a "scat, go away" gesture for Americans. How much more can gestures be misread by aliens (and vice versa)?
Those involved in first contact will need to pay attention to details, and think fast on their feet yet also be patient, and not easily insulted. But that is asking a lot of such a person. I think first contact is best done by learning all you can before hand - eavesdrop on their broadcasts, learn their language, their culture as much as possible via probes and listening devices. Even then, there will be pitfalls.
But if we travel out into space, we may meet new races of sentient beings without the benefit of learning some basics about their language and culture - we may be meeting them for the first time. First contact is probably dangerous, difficult business. It would be great if we had mentors, other alien race(s) who would help us as we spread our wings further and further away from our home nest, the Earth. Otherwise, I hope the aliens we meet for the very first time are also cautious, and willing to not take offense to mistakes, and to especially resist taking personal any offense. If first contact can be difficult on Earth between sentient beings of the same species, just how much more difficult will it be with another race of sentient beings?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Abductions
The History Channel last night (23 July 2008) had a program titled "New UFO Revelations: The Gray's Agenda." One speculation was that the aliens where here to produce alien-human hybrids.
Now why would aliens traverse interstellar distances to produce a hybrid with us? For fun and profit? Boredom? Because they can? On a dare?
One possible reason mentioned by some is maybe they need us to save their own species - they can no longer reproduce for some reason. Let's ponder on that for a moment.
The aliens would need DNA, and DNA that was similar enough to human DNA to make a hybrid possible. And they would need to overcome the problem that most Earth mammal hybrids have - infertility (think mule). That would be counter-productive. And if they were able to overcome the problem (making the alien-human "mule" consistently fertile) then why couldn't they overcome the problem of their own infertility to begin with?
How would a hybrid save their species? The hybrid would be a new species. So why bother at all? If it is perpetuate their culture, I'm sure there would be people on Earth who would volunteer to travel to their planet to live. Ah, but those volunteers would bring their own culture embedded with them. The aliens would need some one who is essentially a blank slate - a new born. However, every species has sets of instincts, and maybe pure human instincts would not mesh well with the alien planet and culture. Thus, the need for a hybrid.
Also, the chance that the alien planet would be a close enough match to Earth for an Earth baby to thrive in are low, especially for the small Grays (the ones that are said to be between 3 to 4 foot tall). The Earth baby would find itself in a societal environment long designed for small creatures. The gravity of the planet may be much greater (a possible reason why the small Grays are small to begin with), too great for a normal human to thrive (or even survive) in for any length of time. Thus, another need for a hybrid.
But if the aliens have the technology to traverse the stars and the knowledge, technique, and technology to create hybrids, that they would have trouble solving their own infertility seems odd. Or at the very least injecting a few select specific human genes into their own genome which would only require sampling some genetic material (a mouth swab would do).
There is, however, another reason for an alien-human hybrid, if such things exist, that I think needs to be considered. Lengthy exploration of a planet that is even moderately hostile environmentally would be difficult for the aliens. If the Earth's atmospheric pressure and gravity is very low compared to theirs, has more radiation reaching the surface, the Sun's spectral class different, the temperature much cooler/warmer it could be difficult for an alien to stay long on the Earth's surface without artificial/supplementary medical/biological aids to help them. Plus, there is the concern about viruses and bacteria - some think that an alien wouldn't be susceptible to our bugs since our bugs are adapted to try to get through our immune systems and thus an alien's immune system would have no trouble recognizing Earth bugs as foreign bodies and attack. Nice assumption, but their immune system evolved on their planet and may miss an Earth bug (maybe see it as inert). Anyway, a hybrid, one brought up in the alien's culture, with alien instincts as well as human protective instincts (like our instinctive fear of a snake's hiss), might make the best alien scientists to explore and research Earth. They would have additional protection against Earth's "bugs," some native instinctive reaction to give them further protection, and can better survive and interact in Earth's environmental conditions.
By the way, for those who are wondering what a Gray (or Grey) is, it is one of several species of aliens reported by people. According to Jerome Clark in his 1998 book The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial
, Grays are most commonly reported in the U.S. (75% of all alien sightings) with Europe and England reporting Grys 20% and 12% of the time, respectively.
Now why would aliens traverse interstellar distances to produce a hybrid with us? For fun and profit? Boredom? Because they can? On a dare?
One possible reason mentioned by some is maybe they need us to save their own species - they can no longer reproduce for some reason. Let's ponder on that for a moment.
The aliens would need DNA, and DNA that was similar enough to human DNA to make a hybrid possible. And they would need to overcome the problem that most Earth mammal hybrids have - infertility (think mule). That would be counter-productive. And if they were able to overcome the problem (making the alien-human "mule" consistently fertile) then why couldn't they overcome the problem of their own infertility to begin with?
How would a hybrid save their species? The hybrid would be a new species. So why bother at all? If it is perpetuate their culture, I'm sure there would be people on Earth who would volunteer to travel to their planet to live. Ah, but those volunteers would bring their own culture embedded with them. The aliens would need some one who is essentially a blank slate - a new born. However, every species has sets of instincts, and maybe pure human instincts would not mesh well with the alien planet and culture. Thus, the need for a hybrid.
Also, the chance that the alien planet would be a close enough match to Earth for an Earth baby to thrive in are low, especially for the small Grays (the ones that are said to be between 3 to 4 foot tall). The Earth baby would find itself in a societal environment long designed for small creatures. The gravity of the planet may be much greater (a possible reason why the small Grays are small to begin with), too great for a normal human to thrive (or even survive) in for any length of time. Thus, another need for a hybrid.
But if the aliens have the technology to traverse the stars and the knowledge, technique, and technology to create hybrids, that they would have trouble solving their own infertility seems odd. Or at the very least injecting a few select specific human genes into their own genome which would only require sampling some genetic material (a mouth swab would do).
There is, however, another reason for an alien-human hybrid, if such things exist, that I think needs to be considered. Lengthy exploration of a planet that is even moderately hostile environmentally would be difficult for the aliens. If the Earth's atmospheric pressure and gravity is very low compared to theirs, has more radiation reaching the surface, the Sun's spectral class different, the temperature much cooler/warmer it could be difficult for an alien to stay long on the Earth's surface without artificial/supplementary medical/biological aids to help them. Plus, there is the concern about viruses and bacteria - some think that an alien wouldn't be susceptible to our bugs since our bugs are adapted to try to get through our immune systems and thus an alien's immune system would have no trouble recognizing Earth bugs as foreign bodies and attack. Nice assumption, but their immune system evolved on their planet and may miss an Earth bug (maybe see it as inert). Anyway, a hybrid, one brought up in the alien's culture, with alien instincts as well as human protective instincts (like our instinctive fear of a snake's hiss), might make the best alien scientists to explore and research Earth. They would have additional protection against Earth's "bugs," some native instinctive reaction to give them further protection, and can better survive and interact in Earth's environmental conditions.
By the way, for those who are wondering what a Gray (or Grey) is, it is one of several species of aliens reported by people. According to Jerome Clark in his 1998 book The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial
, Grays are most commonly reported in the U.S. (75% of all alien sightings) with Europe and England reporting Grys 20% and 12% of the time, respectively.Monday, July 21, 2008
Save Arecibo
From an 18 July 2008 email from Seti@home:Arecibo Observatory, the world's largest radio telescope and the source for the SETI@home data that your computer analyzes, faces massive budget cuts that will END its ability to continue the search for life beyond Earth. The decision to ensure full funding currently rests upon votes in Congress on Senate Bill S. 2862 and House Resolution H.R. 3737. These bills desperately need more support.
Please take a moment to help us SAVE ARECIBO.
Clicking the link below will direct you to a web page that allows you to print out letters prepared for your Senators and Congressional Representative urging them to support Arecibo. Printing and mailing the letters is really easy, too! You will also have the chance to add a few personal thoughts, if you wish, to let your Senators and Representative know why this funding is important to you! And if you're really feeling passionate about saving Arecibo, please use these
letters as the basis for letters you write yourself, urging your congressmen and women to vote to save Arecibo.
Because our representatives in Congress rarely give much attention to all the email they receive, printing out and MAILING these letters via standard U.S. Postal mail remains our best option for contacting them and our best hope for saving Arecibo (The second best option is to call your representatives). Your 42 cent stamps on these letters could help us get the millions of dollars
needed to save Arecibo.
Our search cannot continue without the necessary support. Your work, as SETI@home participants, represents an indispensable resource for conducting the search. Now, we need your help to ensure that our other most valuable resource - our eyes and ears to the cosmos - can continue to probe the universe as we seek to answer the question: Is there anybody out there?
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/arecibo_letter.php
Thank you for your help,
The SETI@home Team
Related information:
- As the largest radio telescope in the world, the Arecibo Observatory is an important asset to America's scientific and technological communities. No other radio telescope comes close to the sensitivity that the Arecibo telescope has.
- Not until the year 2020 will any other telescope even have a chance to surpass Arecibo. If the Square Kilometer Array (to be located in South Africa or Australia) gets all of its funding on time, a decade-long gap without the use of Arecibo (or any comparable telescope) will still plague astronomic, planetary, and atmospheric research.
- Only Arecibo's planetary radar can image and determine exact trajectories of potentially threatening asteroids. This makes Arecibo the best tool for investigating Near Earth Objects and warning the world about possible asteroid threats.
- Radio technologies developed for the Arecibo telescope strengthen the U.S. competitive edge in the global marketplace. Ionospheric radio wave propagation studies conducted at Arecibo form an important component of space technologies, from communications satellites to the Global Positioning System (GPS).
- Arecibo benefits education. Many of our next generation of scientists and engineers receive training at the Arecibo Observatory.
- Arecibo captures the public imagination. Over 120,000 people per year visit this technical wonder while millions more contribute to scientific projects conducted with this telescope. Over 5 million participants have contributed to SETI@home -- the world's largest public participation science project.
- The citizens of the United States, especially those in Puerto Rico, and the scientific community look at Arecibo with pride. The Observatory represents a commitment to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and a major asset to the world scientific community.
Reference:
"Save Arecibo: Write to Congress." Press Release. UC Berkley News. 3 July 2008. 21 July 2008. <http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/arecibo_letter.php>
Hello, or, Is This Thing On?
Mea culpa for being away for so long. Some family matters (no, not the TV show) kept me busy, as well as moving offices (home office and work office).
Stay tuned, there is much to discuss.
Stay tuned, there is much to discuss.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Houses in the Wind
I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC yesterday; they were building a home and a church in New Orleans that were designed to resist hurricane force winds. I suddenly recalled reading science articles about winds on other planets and how Earth has very moderate winds by comparison. It may well be that some, or many, alien planets harboring life will have higher average wind speeds that we Earthlings have. If so, that will definitely affect alien architecture and technology. Their houses will tend to be round or octagonal in shape to help deflect the wind around the building, thereby deflecting much of its destructive force. Structures may tend to be smaller - no towering skyscrapers. Some would still be tempted to design skyscrapers, it's just it would be more difficult to build, and would have to be built to deflect as much of the wind as possible as well as have dampeners to help dampen the swaying caused by winds. They may be more likely to have more of the buildings underground than above ground (depending upon the level of tectonic activity). Their vehicles will all have to be rather aerodynamic in design to be efficient. They may be more apt to use the wind to generate electric power than we have been.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Black Holes and Aliens
I was watching The Ark of Truth (surprise, surprise, I'm a Stargate SG-1 fan), and contemplating the super-gate that is powered by a black hole that the Ori use to travel from their galaxy to ours and while traveling such a distance by an artificially produced wormhole may be something that is highly improbable, it did get me to thinking about the power of black holes and that maybe, just maybe, that is one place to go looking for aliens.
Let me explain. I am not saying black holes can be a natural habitat for some alien species. But black holes do give off immense energy. Not all matter that falls into a black hole is swallowed up, never to be seen again. No, a fair amount of it is given off by the matter as it is ripped apart before it gets to the event horizon (from which there is no return). Much of it streams out in a spiral along an axis.
Such unimaginable power sources just beg to be used / tapped into. OK, at least by species with similar outlook on power as humans. Some types of research may require incredible energies - our particle accelerators are but one example of this. Some explorations of our universe can only happen at high energies. And if some methods of interstellar travel, methods deemed impossible by us at the moment, like artificial wormholes, can only happen with great infusion of power, then black holes may be highly sought after. So maybe that's one place some aliens will not be able to resist, and so one place we may find them.
Of course, the aliens need to live somewhat nearby a black hole - close enough that even a very long journey is worth the effort and sacrifice (may be one way trips at first) to first get near one, study it, learn how to use it, and then invent and construct whatever device is needed to extract/capture the energy given off by in-falling matter. And what if other aliens have the same idea?
OK, so not very probable. But that's one of the fun things about speculation - don't need to stay only in the very probable.
Let me explain. I am not saying black holes can be a natural habitat for some alien species. But black holes do give off immense energy. Not all matter that falls into a black hole is swallowed up, never to be seen again. No, a fair amount of it is given off by the matter as it is ripped apart before it gets to the event horizon (from which there is no return). Much of it streams out in a spiral along an axis.
Such unimaginable power sources just beg to be used / tapped into. OK, at least by species with similar outlook on power as humans. Some types of research may require incredible energies - our particle accelerators are but one example of this. Some explorations of our universe can only happen at high energies. And if some methods of interstellar travel, methods deemed impossible by us at the moment, like artificial wormholes, can only happen with great infusion of power, then black holes may be highly sought after. So maybe that's one place some aliens will not be able to resist, and so one place we may find them.
Of course, the aliens need to live somewhat nearby a black hole - close enough that even a very long journey is worth the effort and sacrifice (may be one way trips at first) to first get near one, study it, learn how to use it, and then invent and construct whatever device is needed to extract/capture the energy given off by in-falling matter. And what if other aliens have the same idea?
OK, so not very probable. But that's one of the fun things about speculation - don't need to stay only in the very probable.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Where's the Kaboom? - Updated
Has a month passed already? I have a stack of science magazines, and a virtual stack of science e-newsletters to wade through. But more importantly, I have a stack of papers to grade. The other stacks will have to wait. All the best laid plans of mice and men...
Lately, the one question on my mind related to Alien Realities is "should we actively try to make contact with other planetary civilizations?" IF distances between solar systems are such that viable physical travel between them is virtually impossible, then there is little physical danger and thus, little reason to fear contact. Psychological, sociological, theological, and cultural dangers are another topic - we don't need physical contact to still be affected. Many scientists so far say interstellar travel is highly impractical: the energy costs are enormous (maybe close to infinite) and the time needed generational. Also, the speed of light does seem to be ultimate speed barrier, and there are no workarounds that seem viable. For instance, many feel that wormholes are not a viable workaround, despite what one my favorite Sci-Fi series uses for their main means of interstellar travel - as they would require far too much energy, and can not be controlled. But just because we can't see any viable "workaround" at present doesn't mean there are not any.
There are other assumptions at work here as well: what may be a generational travel for us (would take many generations of people to get there) may not necessarily be a generational trip for an extremely long lived alien species. They may not mind the long separation from loved ones (if they even feel such emotions, or have such emotional equivalents).
Also, in such a large universe, could there not be a species that is so xenophobic for whatever reasons (even reasons that may not make sense to us) that they are willing to send out a barrage of weapons toward our planet at the first sign of our existence? The weapons may take hundreds or thousands of years to reach us, but that doesn't make it impossible for a alien society from launching them. On the other hand, if they are that xenophobic, launching an attack would broadcast their presence, and they would need to ensure that their weapons could 1) approach completely undetected and 2) completely destroy their target - otherwise a retaliatory response could be mounted against them. Though as we see too often with our own species, intelligence and wisdom do not always go hand in hand - there is no reason to assume alien species would always have increased wisdom with increased intelligence or increased knowledge.
I think we have to be very careful. The old Bugs Bunny cartoon where Marvin the Martian cavalierly wants to destroy the Earth because it gets in the way of his view of Venus could have a kernel of chilling truth to it.
Lately, the one question on my mind related to Alien Realities is "should we actively try to make contact with other planetary civilizations?" IF distances between solar systems are such that viable physical travel between them is virtually impossible, then there is little physical danger and thus, little reason to fear contact. Psychological, sociological, theological, and cultural dangers are another topic - we don't need physical contact to still be affected. Many scientists so far say interstellar travel is highly impractical: the energy costs are enormous (maybe close to infinite) and the time needed generational. Also, the speed of light does seem to be ultimate speed barrier, and there are no workarounds that seem viable. For instance, many feel that wormholes are not a viable workaround, despite what one my favorite Sci-Fi series uses for their main means of interstellar travel - as they would require far too much energy, and can not be controlled. But just because we can't see any viable "workaround" at present doesn't mean there are not any.
There are other assumptions at work here as well: what may be a generational travel for us (would take many generations of people to get there) may not necessarily be a generational trip for an extremely long lived alien species. They may not mind the long separation from loved ones (if they even feel such emotions, or have such emotional equivalents).
Also, in such a large universe, could there not be a species that is so xenophobic for whatever reasons (even reasons that may not make sense to us) that they are willing to send out a barrage of weapons toward our planet at the first sign of our existence? The weapons may take hundreds or thousands of years to reach us, but that doesn't make it impossible for a alien society from launching them. On the other hand, if they are that xenophobic, launching an attack would broadcast their presence, and they would need to ensure that their weapons could 1) approach completely undetected and 2) completely destroy their target - otherwise a retaliatory response could be mounted against them. Though as we see too often with our own species, intelligence and wisdom do not always go hand in hand - there is no reason to assume alien species would always have increased wisdom with increased intelligence or increased knowledge.
I think we have to be very careful. The old Bugs Bunny cartoon where Marvin the Martian cavalierly wants to destroy the Earth because it gets in the way of his view of Venus could have a kernel of chilling truth to it.
"Where's the Kaboom? There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering Kaboom?" - Marvin the Martian.On such an uplifting note I will leave for now, but shall return to this topic from time to time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)